I think Croce said "Don't SPIT into the wind". ;) For instance last evening. I was out in the much warmer west desert with Daniel. There was a slight breeze but it was a warm breeze. Not enough of a breeze to keep the swarm of mosquitoes off me, but enough so that you could sneak your hand in behind them while they were feeding, and flatten a fair share them. The F-16's were cruisin' through the skies dropping flares. In fact, the Milky Way literally twinkled with them. Every now and then the sweet sounds of Jazz coming from Daniels radio was drowned out by the sounds from the fighters as they maneuvered high over head. Add to the mix, my green laser pointer angrily trying to chase them out of OUR area and well, you get the picture... I felt optically inferior next to Daniels 17" scope. I'm sorry, make that SEVENTEEN AND A HALF inch scope. ;) What's a half inch among friends? Last night I took the Pepsi challenge. We both put our scopes on the Andromeda Galaxy. I have to tell you, my 10" scope handles the brighter objects much better that the big scope. The 17 POINT FIVE scope nearly blinds you. It took me a few minutes to regain my night sight. Walking away from Daniels scope I looked like a drunk tripping all over the place. At first I couldn't find my scope. Thankfully my telescope is on a mount that has three legs that extend out. If your not careful, you could end up face down in the dirt. Of course, if you're not carrying anything in your hands, your arms will automatically reach out to help break the fall. Or, their supposed to... It was a great night all in all. Good company for sure. Dark skies to the west with a little bit of a glow to the east. Outside of the flares and F-16's, the Milky Way was bright. And, it cast a shadow. Or was it the flares... A few observations in closing: Always travel with someone who has bug spray. Of course as the night progressed, the bites quit itching. A kind of numbness takes over after a while. I'm not a doctor, but I think continually slapping your head, neck and face does something to the nerve endings just under the skin that will eventually mask the pain from insect bites. While marking your area after consuming a large quantity of fluids, be absolutely certain of the direction the wind is blowing. It is entirely possible for a gentle breeze to actually swirl in directions at first not easily determined in the dark, or by feel... ;)

Chuck, You (still) have a telescope to go with that mirror?! Are your big-dob days over, or...? Curious, Rich --- Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com> wrote:

My own, old, old 17.5" mirror has a clear aperture of ~17.35" when the bevel is subtracted.

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